Sample Answer for NURS 6052 Week 3 Discussion Organizational Policies and Practices to Support Healthcare Issues Included After Question
Quite often, nurse leaders are faced with ethical dilemmas, such as those associated with choices between competing needs and limited resources. Resources are finite, and competition for those resources occurs daily in all organizations.
For example, the use of 12-hour shifts has been a strategy to retain nurses. However, evidence suggests that as nurses work more hours in a shift, they commit more errors. How do effective leaders find a balance between the needs of the organization and the needs of ensuring quality, effective, and safe patient care?
In this Discussion, you will reflect on a national healthcare issue and examine how competing needs may impact the development of polices to address that issue.
To Prepare:
- Review the Resources and think about the national healthcare issue/stressor you previously selected for study in Module 1.
- Reflect on the competing needs in healthcare delivery as they pertain to the national healthcare issue/stressor you previously examined.
By Day 3 of Week 3
Post an explanation of how competing needs, such as the needs of the workforce, resources, and patients, may impact the development of policy. Then, describe any specific competing needs that may impact the national healthcare issue/stressor you selected. What are the impacts, and how might policy address these competing needs? Be specific and provide examples.
By Day 6 of Week 3
Respond to at least two of your colleagues on two different days by providing additional thoughts about competing needs that may impact your colleagues’ selected issues, or additional ideas for applying policy to address the impacts described.
A Sample Answer For the Assignment: NURS 6052 Week 3 Discussion Organizational Policies and Practices to Support Healthcare Issues
Title: NURS 6052 Week 3 Discussion Organizational Policies and Practices to Support Healthcare Issues
Specific needs of the unit or the facility can affect and impact the development of a new policy or an update to address those needs. Staffing shortages is a major healthcare issue that most facilities face that affects the performance of the unit. Staffing shortages lead to poor performance because it leads to staff burnouts, medical errors, medication errors, poor clinical decisions, and patient safety. It affects the staff member’s “ability to give quality patient care” and may allow the staff member to disconnect to their job due to emotional distress (Laureate Education, 2009, 3:24). The healthcare issue that has been most prominent on my unit, which is Chemical Dependency and dual diagnosis unit, is prescription drug overdose.
When the unit runs with short staffing, many elemental situations get overlooked. For example, a new patient is admitted, and their belongings is not accurately searched. The counselor aide (CA) rushes and forgets to check the patient’s jacket pocket that has the patient’s prescription bottle of Seroquel 300 mg. After the patient is administered medication from the nurse, the patient goes to bed and takes the prescribed Seroquel 300 mg that she brought with her. The patient may take more doses depending on her intentions. Minor mistakes can cause a major incident such as a patient overdosing on the unit. This puts another stressor on the nurse who is already burned out.
According to the Joint Commission’s detox unit policy, the nurse-patient ratio should be 1:7. This ratio is only effective when we are fully staffed. Although our unit follows this policy, we do have incidences where we are forced to work short and one nurse must handle up to 21 detox patients. This has caused the detox nurse to be overwhelmed caring for patients constantly vomiting, complaining, cursing, and yelling. Burnout among staff can cause negative emotions to affect their job performance and produce a negative work environment (Kelly & Porr, 2018). Prior to Thanksgiving, my unit was affected due to Covid-19. A new admission, who was asymptomatic for Covid-19, was admitted and the virus spread throughout the unit like wildfire. Up to 14 staff members were affected and half of the patients had to be moved to the Covid-unit. This presented a larger issue since staffing was already low. Nursing managers should consider the staffing needs according to the workload of the unit to avoid burnout among their staff members. “Nurses in management and administration have a particular responsibility to provide a safe environment that supports and facilitates appropriate assignment and delegation” (American Nurses Association, 2015, p. 33). Better communication, productive teamwork, and work incentives are some examples of effective strategies that can make an impact on unit functions and performance.
References
American Nurses Association. (2015). Code of ethics for nurses with interpretive statements. Silver Springs, MD: Author. Retrieved from https://www.nursingworld.org/coe-view-only
Kelly, P., & Porr, C. (2018). Ethical nursing care versus cost containment: Considerations to enhance RN practice. OJIN: Online Journal of Issues in Nursing, 23(1), Manuscript 6. DOI: 10.3912/OJIN.Vol23No01Man06. Retrieved from http://ojin.nursingworld.org/MainMenuCategories/ANAMarketplace/ANAPeriodicals/OJIN/TableofContents/Vol-23-2018/No1-Jan-2018/Ethical-Nursing-Cost-Containment.html
Laureate Education (Producer). (2009b). Working with individuals [Video file]. Baltimore, MD: RE: Discussion – Week 3
A Sample Answer 2 For the Assignment: NURS 6052 Week 3 Discussion Organizational Policies and Practices to Support Healthcare Issues
Title: NURS 6052 Week 3 Discussion Organizational Policies and Practices to Support Healthcare Issues
This is a very interesting post you have here. I agree with you that staffing shortage is a major healthcare issue that needs to be looked into and addressed diligently especially considering that it can cause staff burnout which can have a negative impact on the performance of nurses and ultimately patient care. Studies have shown that medical malpractices such as medication errors which lead to increased incidence of readmission is linked to nurse burnout. Nurse burnout is a phenomenon characterized by a reduction in nurses’ energy that manifests in emotional exhaustion, lack of motivation, and feelings of frustration and may lead to reductions in work efficacy (Mudallal, R. H., Othman, W. M., & Al Hassan, N. F. 2017). Nurses experiencing burnout have been found to become detached from their jobs allowing errors due to absent mindedness to increase exponentially. Nursing shortages lead to errors, higher morbidity, and mortality rates. In hospitals with high patient-to-nurse ratios, nurses experience burnout, dissatisfaction, and the patients experienced higher mortality and failure-to-rescue rates than facilities with lower patient-to-nurse ratios (Haddad L. M., Toney-Butler, T. J, 2020).
It is also very interesting that you mentioned your experience currently with the pandemic as my organization is also experiencing similar staff shortage due to infected nursing staff members that have to self-isolate. The management in my organization have continued to help alleviate the effect of the stress on us by recruiting new nurses via nursing agencies, ensuring that nurse managers take up clinical duties and introducing renumeration such as additional pay to nurses on duty. I hope to read more of your posts and wish you good luck.
References
Haddad L. M, Toney-Butler, T. J [2020]. Nursing Shortage. In: StatPearls [Internet]. Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing; 2020 Jan-. Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK493175/
Mudallal, R. H., Othman, W. M., & Al Hassan, N. F. (2017). Nurses’ Burnout: The Influence of Leader Empowering Behaviors, Work Conditions, and Demographic Traits. Inquiry : a journal of medical care organization, provision and financing, 54, 46958017724944. https://doi.org/10.1177/0046958017724944
A Sample Answer 3 For the Assignment: NURS 6052 Week 3 Discussion Organizational Policies and Practices to Support Healthcare Issues
Title: NURS 6052 Week 3 Discussion Organizational Policies and Practices to Support Healthcare Issues
As you mentioned in your discussion post, access to healthcare remains a crucial issue in alleviating the disparities between rural and urban areas. Aside from insufficient healthcare providers, which undoubtedly contribute to this deficit, many barriers exist. These barriers may include a lack of access to preventive and screening services. Rural residents often have a higher incidence of uninsured and underserved populations, lack subspecialty care, and have limited access to transportation options (Garcia et al., 2019). A large portion of the competing needs that may impact policy development is the recent trend of healthcare providers and hospitals relocating to more affluent urban areas (James et al., 2020).
I enjoyed reading your discussion, and you have provided great insight. Although there are a variety of socioeconomic determinants of health in rural populations, the goal of policy change should aim for health equity. In addition to employing qualified nurse practitioners to address the healthcare provider shortage, a more targeted needs-based prevention effort should be needed. This includes greater access to treatment for chronic conditions. Expanding the nurse practitioners’ scope of practice will also be beneficial, but a national effort to boost the local economy through rural medical practice benefits and an influx of new technologies, such as telehealth clinics. This is a step in the right direction in reducing the rural-urban health disparity gap.
References
James, C. V., Moonesinghe, R., Wilson-Frederick, S. M., Hall, J. E., Penman-Aguilar, A., & Bouye, K. (2020). Racial/Ethnic Health Disparities Among Rural Adults – United States, 2012- 2015. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. Surveillance Summaries (Washington, D.C.: 2002), 66(23), 1–9. https://doi-org.ezp.waldenulibrary.org/10.15585/mmwr.ss6623a1Links to an external site.
Garcia, M. C., Faul, M., Massetti, G., Thomas, C. C., Hong, Y., Bauer, U. E., & Iademarco, M. F. (2019). Reducing Potentially Excess Deaths from the Five Leading Causes of Death in the Rural United States. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. Surveillance Summaries (Washington, D.C.: 2002), 66(2), 1–7. https://doi-org.ezp.waldenulibrary.org/10.15585/mmwr.ss6602a1
A Sample Answer 4 For the Assignment: NURS 6052 Week 3 Discussion Organizational Policies and Practices to Support Healthcare Issues
Title: NURS 6052 Week 3 Discussion Organizational Policies and Practices to Support Healthcare Issues
The purpose of this paper is to expand on the competing needs of the nursing shortage, and to discuss the development of polices to aid in decreasing the nursing shortage.
Competing needs impact on the development of policies.
There are numerous competing factors affecting the nursing shortage. The increasing ages of nurses and the impending retirement of the baby boomers threatens the nursing shortage even more. (Haddad, et al, 2022). Because of this, the policies need to satisfy the workforce and patient needs to ascertain that the resources are effectively used.
Many states offer incentive programs for qualifying nurses, including loan repayment programs, scholarships, and tax credits. The coronavirus aid, relief, and economic security (CARES) Act provides additional funding and support for underserved areas and nurses working in areas with critical shortages identified by the health resources and services administration (HRSA) qualify for training and educational financial aid. (Congress.gov, 2020).
Competing needs impacting the Nursing Shortage
In 2021, U.S. nursing schools turned away more than 91,000 qualified applicants. (AACN, 2022). Maintaining new nurses to fill open positions requires resources for training and education. However, with nursing school applications reaching record levels, programs had to turn away qualified applicants due to a lack of nurse educators, clinical space, classroom space, and clinical preceptors. (AACN, 2022).
The shortage of qualified educators is attributed to a wave of faculty retirements. Competition for faculty from clinical and private sector employers, offer better pay and working conditions, also draws qualified educators away from traditional nursing programs. And since master’s and doctoral programs are not producing qualified educators quickly enough to replace those leaving the field, the educator shortage is only expected to increase. (AACN, 2022).
Policy on the competing needs
According to the national conference of state legislators, (2022), state action response to the national nursing shortage, states have examined a variety of options to recruit and retain nurses, specific policy levers include loosening licensing requirements, changing scope of practice laws, bolstering educational programs, and offering monetary incentives.
References
American Association of the College of Nursing. (AACN). (2022). Nursing Faculty Shortage. https://www.aacnnursing.org/Portals/42/News/Factsheets/Faculty-Shortage-Factsheet.pdfLinks to an external site.
Congress.gov. (2019). H.R.748 – CARES Act. 116th Congress.
Haddad L, Annamaraju P, Toney-Butler T. (2022). Nursing Shortage https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK493175/Links to an external site.
The National Conference of State Legislators. (2022). Addressing Nursing Shortages: Options for States. https://www.ncsl.org/health/addressing-nursing-shortages-options-for-states#:~:text=In%20response%20to%20this%20national,programs%2C%20and%20offering%20monetary%20incentives.Links to an external site.